Knife guard for slicing machines



Sept. 29, 1931.

w. J. CAMPBELL KNIFE GUARD FOR SLICING MACHINES Filed June 8. 1929 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 29, 1931. w. J. CAMPBELL KNIFE GUARD FOR SLICING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 8, 1929 [7? yzwfar. 1

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Patented Sept. 29, 1931 WILLIAM J, climax, or nibnifiem; issues o Amen smcnie MACHINE comm. or cn xqeeugmmmmj. CORPORATION or mzw 2032" Y knife;

such a guard which ml'yf-be lied-tom; work carriage travelingncms: jfaoe of: said knife. obj-ectyis-tlie'previsienof such a guard which shall the cutt' edge at thelmife' whmithe,m-.; riage IBlesthe endiof its e-Kflllf-k sion and when the WQi'lLIhiiS-bmmmuiQdJ past the cutting edgexrf-atheknife ;An'

other object is the 0f; guarding and mel'nber fiwhich shall combinethe fnnetioui 19f guarding the edge of the knife whenthemfifigeiasibeen: moved past it andtheofzholding the work against mating-Me movement in relation to the;cutting edgmof the when the cari'ia-ge ,isbeing thmst the knife on its cutting eicumion; jest is the previsioniof guud means-whisk shall have a combined yamingrand: Q 1' tive function in relatioli;to-=thej=htndfbfthe eperator when the opmm the pusher plate mm carriage tdnardthe cutting plane of. the knife-dufiiigithecutk tingreciprocation of :the clrriagecf Other; objects will appear ftom time to time in the course of the specifieatien' and claim's. w I illustrate my'invention more of 1m die-- grammatically in the dmwl ingzs, wherein- Figure 1 is'an elevution the slicing machine; I

Figure 2 is a partial end elevation; Figure 3 is a partial plin vim; Figure 4 is a front elevatieh ilhistrating my device applied ton difie'reiit typejbfsl icg ing machine; and I 7 5 Figure dis a plan viewfof the'sti miture shown in Figure 4, I

Like parts are indicated byIlikef syii'abols throughout-the specification and Referringfirst t0, the fprxh of to 3, A generallyindicates suppott'sAkj q V 1 h B' dimtes i -gauge plate mounted on the I structure B thea detailsiofzwhich do netef themselvw form, part of invention; 5 V V- generally -1lustrates a rotary knifemounted on the shaft G which maybe ace Phm supperting and actuating tasted asbythe pulle Cflwthe belt (3?, and the drive pulley G. twill be understood; tint y any suitable tier example, an electriemotor, may hemounted to drive the knife thmugih the bove described driving.

connection-T1 C illustrates any suitable guard,

platejibr the front ofqthe knife, theguavd. and gaugeplates-beingindiqated as lyingin generally vertical, generally parallel planes. The axisfoifthesheft C may be tilted whit, to brin the putting arcof the .knife, as indicated at C forwardly. into or in front of the plane ofthe'guard plate. 1

D ei-ally" dieates the carriage ma'mnt. ed en 1 the tmck D}- of cylindrical cross-Seetion; Dependingirmnthecarriage is a pot! tion D -with'thej flanges D? whichaie tioneden opposite sides of; guide track D; Pivotally mounted on -the carriage-1,) is a. work suppoi ting stnictuie whichiineludes. ,theplate E, the hinged-supports E thenefor, and any suiteblepivet pin or-pins E, E indicates an adjusting link sletted as' at E engaged by thelocking-member E?- on; the csrrilge;

Mounted for movement ac ress the plzite is the, pusher platezG'with thezhandlegG? secured t0 its rear as by the bracket G. The

opposite end bf the handle. is-conneeted als bythe member G with the sleeve Gwh1ch is. slidable along the pinG which isinounted on the projection G on one of the hinge members-ER s *Positigned along the left edge of thelplate E;QS shown in Figure 1, the edgewhmh is remote from the cutting are of the" knife when theplate is in the full line positien' ofFigmel, I illustrate ax upstanding Wei-k engaging-flange H- -Ad acent the cutting it is, upwardly expanded as shown at H ih gmundeii liglhg;

Fi' L re 2. The separately expanded pertiol te ninates closely adjacent the face of the gauge plate. The gauge plate is shown in Figure 2 as bowed, the edge of the member H being bowed to conform thereto. The function of this bowing is to conform to the contour of the cutting are C of the knife, which is somewhat bowed from the vertical, owing to the tilting of theing to the cutting arc of the knife when the parts are in the dotted linerpositionimwhichg: they are shown in Figure 1. It willbe noted that the membe'r G is-s'omewhat arched, in

order to clear the top of the flange'H, and' is positionedin such relation to the sleeve G that it cannot engage thej'e'dge offthe upstanding flange H since the inner edge of the sleeve G engages the portion G6,": as. shown in Figure 3, Which may serve as a stop. j

Referring to the fgrrh'fpf Figures and 5I' illustrate more or less conventionally a typeof slicing machine in which thefmeat' carriage I I is reciprocated along a track 11 on the base I inresponse t oiretationj of the fly wheel I with its rnanual'handlei The manual wheel ismerelyillustrative of any suitable d iving means for actuating the carriage I but it win; he l-understood that in the device shown 'infFi'g'ures 4 and" 5 each reciprocation of the carriagefl automatically results in a forward movement of an independent carrier K towardthe cutting plane of the knifejf The details of this:"driving mechanism donot of themselves form part of the present invention but-f1 illustrate in F association with a carrier K'theworm K p and indicates the applicability tofthe auto matic type of guards; corresponding t'o the dicatefmo'unted adjacent thejedge of the c an" riageI th'e guard L which liesjin a plane generally parallel with the cutting plane; Associated with it' "ma be extension L corresponding to H and lying in? a plane generally perpendicularto the planeofthe guard-L; Y These guard members, showri in F gures land 5% a unitarystructure mayliebolted to the edge'of the carriage I-as at I It Will be realized-that whereas I have described and shown a practical and opera tlve 'device, nevertheless "many changes m1" ht ;be made'in tl1e size, 'shape; number an disposition of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore wish my description and claims to be taken as in a broad sense illustrative and diagrammatic rather than as limiting me to my specific showing.

- {lheuse and-operationgormy-invention are as follows knife axis above alluded to.- Associated with the guard H .is,v anadditional guard, member H "which may be secured to It is shown inFigure 1 as terminating in. "a generally arcuate edge roughly. conform- The safety of the operator is of course a .prime ieature of importance in. a slicing 'maehine.f}jIn the old hand drlven SllClIlg machines where the lmife was rotated at relatively slightspeed and where it rotated only in responseto the manual actuation of the-operat0r ,-the risk of damage was relatively slight- In the form of my device shown in Figures-Ito 3 an'extremely sharp rotary'knife ismo'tor driven at a speed of a thousand R.'-"-P. ;M. or: more. Not only is' the sharp knifedriven at such a speed dangerousybutits resence tends to have an intimidating'e ect upon an operator. Hence theim'portance of shieldin'g it. WVhen the"gauge=plate]3 is set to zero, as in Fig ure '3,- it-masks the edge of the cutting arc ofthe-knife; the rest ofthe knife being concealed behind the guard plate C or contained withi-n the frame and housing of the device.- -Bu't';when the'gauge plate-is withdrawn,' particularly when thick slices are being cut,'th e"-cutting' are is inevitably ex- 'osedi*I-havetherefore provided the guard 'which,' when the carriage D- reaches the end 'of its'cut ting'excursion, overlies and shields" the cutting; "are 'f rom the carriage side. This position of the guard is shown in dottedjlinein Figure 1 and an operator wishes to interrupt :the "slicing operation without" returning. the gauge plate to neutral he can 5 safely leave"- the machine "by "merely lea'vingthe carriage at theextrernity' of the" cutting excursion; withthe' guard H overlying the clitting"arc.'

'In th'e form of Figures 1 to 3 the operator mayemploythe memberG as a handle or thelmemberG or the pin G, if the pusher plat'e iis not employed. A frequent method of operation is for the operator to grasp either the pin G or the sleeve G, with one ormore fingers ex'tendingover the flange H and incontact with the work. gThus with one hand the operator not only' recip'rocates the carriage but also'ciontrols the pusher plate G, if he is using; it,'=or directly engages. the workwith his-fingers; if he is not using the pusher-plate. As the'successive slices areptaken the hand 'of the operator advances closer and closer to the cutting plane and the guardp ortion H is eventuallyengaged byhis fin ers. ,It hasthe double function of pos1t1ve y preventlng so close an approachof hisfingers as will cause risk of cutting, vand"ofwarning him, in case his eyes arejnot"o n "tl iework, of his close 21ppreach to the'cuttingedgeQ Finally, the

positioningofigthe' handle 'aild'guide pin G mass ve the work grips the'hand of the operatorin a relatively SQIGPOSICIOH as regards the cutting edge of the knife, and, when a 1mm ber of slices have been taken from the work,

tends to keep the'hand of the operator in the shelter of the guard members H and H H is to engage and support the work as it is moved against the cutting edge of-the knife and to prevent thelwork from re ceding from the knife or from binding frictionally on the gauge plate. This tends to obviatethe formation of tails onthework and makes-for an evener slice. Also, by reducing the frictional drag andby positively forcing the work forward, it eases the frictional contact of knife and work and tends to reduce frictional heating of'the knife and consequentlarding of the work. This is particularly important in connection, with slicing fat meats such as ham, bacon,l

salt pork and the like. I claim:

including a knife and means for actuating 1t and a work supporting member and means "for guiding it across the face of the knife and an outwardly bowed gauge plate, a guard, lying in a plane generally parallel with and closely adjacent the cutting plane, adapted to mask the cutting edge of'the knife from thework support side at the tor-- mination of the cutting excursion of the work support, the guard being bowed to' conform, generally to the bowing of the gauge plate.

it and a work supporting member and means for guiding it across the face of the knife, a guard, lying in a plane generally parallel with and closely adjacent thejcut ting plane, adapted to mask the cutting edge of the knife from the work support side. at the termination of the cutting excursion of the work support, said guard having a generally straight edge generally perpendicular to the face of the work support, and an ad ditional guard member, intersecting said first mentioned guard along said straight edge and extending outwardly away from the cutting plane.

3. In association with a slicing machine including a knife and means for actuating- Work 1 supp ort said guard lying generally-f parallel-with and -'closely adjacent the 'cutting planefand' including, a enerally straight:

edge upwardly-extending from and aligned with the face or the work engaging flange,

and an additional-guard member, extending outwardly 'froi'n said straight edge lying in; A further function of the guard member.-

the [general plane l -off i the work engaging 7 the work supportsid'eat the termination of the cutting excursion offthe work support,

and-an additional guard element, extending outwardly fromsaid first guard-yelement,

away' from'the' cutting plane, interposed be- 1 I tween the work 'support" and the handle. 1. In association with a slicing machine 5: In association "with fa slicing machine including a'knife and means for{actuatingit and a worksupport movable across the. face of the"knife,*a=handle positioned adj c'entth'e' edgeof'theWork support remote fromthe cutting edge 0f the knife when the work support is in -initi'al positionprior to ment;*extending' outwardly from said first 2. In association with a slicing machine" including a knife and means-for actuating guard element; away from' thecutting plane, interposed between 11 the work support "and the I handle, and" a work engaging abutment or fiange up'wardly projecting from the work support along the edge adjacent the- 6. In association with a: 'slicingr'nachine including a knife" and means for actuating itand a work support movable across the faceof the knife,- ahandle positioned adjacent; the edge-"Ofthe work support remote from the' cutting edge of the knife when the work support is in initial position prior to the cutting "excursion, a guard element adapted to mask the cutting edge of the knife from the" work'jsupport-side at the. termination of the-cutting excursion of the work support, and an additional guard ele ment, extending outwardly from said first guard'element; away fro'rn the cutting plane,

interposed betweeirthework support and the handle, and- 'a' workenga'ging abutment 0r flangeupwardly projecting from 1 the work support; along the edge adj acentthe handle, this abutment and the last -mentioned guard elementlying in substantially thggsame pl a-lle In jas'sociatioitwith'. a slicing. machine a vitand a work support movableacross theface of the knife, the edge of the work sup- 7 port is in initial position prior to its cut-v including a knife'and means for actuatingport lying closely adjacent the cutting plane of the knife, a'guard adapted to mask the cutting edge of the knife from the work support'side atthe termination of the cutting excursion, of the work'support, said guard including a member positioned at the for ward corner of the work support remote from the knife when the work support is in initial position prior to the cutting excursion and including a plurality of generally plane elements, one lying in a plane generally parallel with and closely adjacent the cutting plane and underlyin'gin' a plane generally perpendicular to the cutting plane.

"8.-In association with a slicing machine including a knife and means for actuating it and a work support movable across the face of the knife, the edge of 'the work support lying closely adjacent; the cutting plane of the knife, a guard member mounted adjacent the forward edge of said support on the sidefof the support farthest from the cutting edge of the knife when the support isin initial position prior to itscutting excursion, said guard member including one element lying in a plane generall parallel with the cutting plane of the kni e and an other element at an angle thereto. 7

-9.- In association with a slicing machine;

including a knife and means for actuating it and a work support movable across the face of the knife, the edge of the work support lyingv closely adjacent the cutting plane ofthe knife,'a guard member mounted adjacent the forward edge of said support onthe side of the support farthest from the, cutting edge of the knife when the sup ting excursion, said guard member including one element lying in a plane generally par.-

allel with thecutting plane of the knife and another element at an angle thereto, and a handle positioned adjacent said guard member and between said elements.

10. In association with a slicing machine including a'knife and means for actuating it, a carriage and means for guiding it across the face of the knife, a work en-. gaging flange mounted on the edge of the carriage remote from the cutting edge of the knife at the initiation of the excursion ofthe carriage, a pusher plate mounted on thecarriage and means for guiding it for movement across the carriage toward the a cutting plane of the knife, including a pin positioned on the side of said work engaging flange away from the carriage, and a guard, associated with said work engaging flange, adapted to mask the cutting edge of the knife at the termination of the cutting excursion of the carriage, said guard lying in a plane generally parallel with the cutting plane and at-r'i'ght', anglejsjto the plane of said flange, said guardextending to a substantially greater height *thilll the height of.

therewith, lying in a plane generally'pan allel with and closely adjacent the cutting plane, said guard being adapted to mask the cutting edge of the knife from the work supporting side :at'ithe termination'of the vcutting excursion of the work support, and

a second guard, generally perpendicular to said first mentioned guard and generally perpendicular to the cutting plane, the two guards intersecting, thei ntersect on defin-.

ing a generally straight edge generally perpendicular to the work, supporting face of the carriage and generally parallel with and closely adjacent the cutting plane and a handle positioned adjacent the intersection of the two guards, onthe side of'saidintersection away from the'knife. a

, 12.111 association'with a slicing machine including a knife and means for actuating it, a work supporting carriage and means for guiding 1t across the face and past the cutting edge of theknife, a guard pos tioned upon said carriage'and: movable therewith,

lying in a plane generally parallel; with and closely adjacent the, cutting plane, said guardbeing adapted to mask the cutting edge of the knife-fromthe wjork supporting side at the termination of the cutting excursion of the work support,*and a second 7 guard, generallyperpendicular to said first mentioned guard and generally perpendicular to the cutting plane, twoguards interseating, the mtersectlon defining a generally straight edge generally perpendicular to the worksupporting face of thecarriage and generally parallel with and closely adjacent the cutting plane, and a handle for said carriage, said handle being positioned rearwardly of said firstnientioned guard, and being positioned relatively closely adjacent said second guard, at a level substantially belowthe top of said second guard, and on the side of said second guard opposite to the cutting edge of the knife when the carriage is at the beginning of the cutting stroke. I v a p 13. In association with a slicing machine including a knife and means for actuating it, a work supporting carriage and means for guidingit across'the face andrpast thecutting edge of the knife, guard positioned upon: said; carriage and movable therewith.

lying in a plane generally parallel with and closely adjacent the cutting plane, said guard being adapted touinask the cutting, edge of the knife from the work supporting side at the termination of thecutting V v excursion of the work support, and a second guard, generally perpendicular to said first mentioned guard and generally perpendicular to the cutting plane, the two guards m V tersecting, the intersection defining a generally straight edge generally erpendicular to the work supporting face of the carriage and generally parallel with and closely adjacent the cutting plane, and a guide member positioned upon said carriage, said guide being positioned rearwardly of said first mentioned guard, and being positioned relatively closely adjacent said second guard, at

a level substantially below the top of said second guard, a handle member slidable along said guide and. a lateral extension therefrom, a. pusher plate mounted upon.

said lateral extension, overlying and slidable across the work supporting face of the carriage, said lateral extension lying to the rear of said second guard when the pusher plate is advanced to its closest proximity to the cutting plane. 7

14. In associationfwith a slicing machine including a knife and means for actuating 1t, a work supporting carriage and means for guiding it across the face and past the cutting edge of the knife, a guard positioned upon said carriage and movable therewith, lying in a plane generally parallel with and closely adjacent the cutting plane, said guard being adapted to overlie the cutting edge of the knife on the work supporting side at the termination of the cutting ex cursion of the work support, said vguard i being mounted upon said carriage ad acent the edge of the carriage remote from the cutting edge of the knife when thecarriage is at the beginningof the cutting excursion, the carriage being provided with a handle portion associated with the same edge of the carriage, said handle portion being positioned to the'rear of the said guard, the guard extending downwardly beneath the level of the handle a distance-greater than the normal reach of afinger of the hand of an operator grasping the handle;

Signed'at Indianapolis county of Marion and State of Indiana, this 5th day ofJune,

WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL. 

